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Royal Oak asks Schostak, Farran Realty to combine proposals for downtown land

The Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority board on Wednesday night asked a pair of developers to consider a joint venture to develop 4.15 acres of land north of I-696 between Main Street and Woodward Avenue.

The $52.25 million Farran development would have a 30,000-square-foot retail and office building, a 40,000-square-foot retail and office building, and 150-180 apartments.

Schostak, Farran and Singh Development LLC had each submitted plans for the site, responding to a requests for proposal to develop the property, which is owned by the DDA.

Singh proposed a $35 million residential development with 192 townhomes and studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. It would have 324 parking spaces.

Bill Harrison, a member of the DDA board, said Tim Thwing, the city planning director and executive director of the DDA, “is trying to put Farran and Schostak together to do apartments and the office complex.”

In an April 10 memo to the DDA board, Thwing said he did not include representatives from West Bloomfield Township-based Singhbecause its proposed development is entirely residential.

Schostak and Farran are expected to report to the DDA board May 7 about whether they would be willing to work as a joint venture, and what type of development they would propose. Harrison said he asked a Singh representative to maintain its development offer for the next 30-45 days.

“I told him I want to keep you in the loop here and make sure that their offer will be good so that if this other thing falls apart, we are still looking at three bidders,” Harrison said.

Schostak is offering $4 million for the land, Farran is offering $3.25 million and Singh is offering $2 million, , according to the companies’ RFP responses.

Tata Technologies is in a 39,000-square-foot building on 11 Mile Road east of Meadowbrook Road, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc.

Several developments over the years have been proposed for the Royal Oak site.

In 2012, the Detroit Medical Center was eyeing the site for a $50 million outpatient medical center. But last year DMC scrapped that site as the proposed location because it was ultimately too small for the estimated 100,000-square-foot medical center that would primarily treat pediatric patients. DMC has since proposed the facility for Big Beaver Road in Troy.

In 2007, Schostak ended its plans for a mixed-use hotel and retail development. It instead constructed the L.A. Fitness health club nearby, at the corner of Woodward and Washington avenues.